Children enduring drought in Africa are ‘one disease away from catastrophe:’ UNICEF
Children in two vast regions of Africa could die in devastating numbers due to the compounding effects of malnutrition and water-borne illnesses, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday. The children at particular risk are those who live in the Horn of Africa — Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia — and several countries in the semi-arid Sahel region, including Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and Nigeria, according to the agency. UNICEF issued the warning in conjunction with the first day of World Water Week — organized annually by th
Read MoreThe CDC is broken and apologies can’t fix it
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is getting credit for a mea culpa for saying what seems obvious: “For 75 years, the CDC and public health have been preparing for COVID-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations,” This is a classic act of contrition theater, in which Walensky avoids taking any responsibility for
Read MoreLeahy said he didn’t have to ‘act frightened’ in Batman scene with Heath Ledger
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said on Tuesday that he did not need to “act frightened” during his scene in “The Dark Knight” with actor Heath Ledger’s Joker. Leahy told CNN’s John Berman on “New Day” that the fear came naturally to him during his scene in the 2008 Batman movie, in which the Joker holds a knife to his face. “The director said, ‘Act frightened.’ I said, ‘Act?’ He scared the heck out of me,” Leahy said. Leahy, who is retiring from the
Read MoreLife expectancy drops by almost 2 years
Overall life expectancy in the United States dropped by 1.8 years from 2019 to 2020, new data show. The declines affected all 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to a New National Vital Statistics report, and ranged from as little as 0.2 years in some states to as many as 3 years in others. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and its Division of Vital Statistics attributed the dips to the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in drug overdose deaths. The drop is th
Read MoreHow thinking too hard could make you tired: study
Story at a glance Doing a lot of thinking heavy work can lead to fatigue that is different from physical fatigue. Scientists are curious about why and how this might happen. A study suggests how thinking too much over a long period of time may lead to changes in the brain that make you feel tired.
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